NEW YORK – Hamzah Sheeraz did to Edgar Berlanga on Saturday night what Canelo Alvarez couldn’t accomplish in their fight.

The British contender knocked out Berlanga in a super middleweight fight that, coincidentally, could help Sheeraz secure a fight versus Alvarez if the undisputed super middleweight champion beats Terence Crawford on September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. England’s Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) dropped Brooklyn’s Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) twice late in the fourth round and again early in the fifth round, which forced referee David Fields to stop their scheduled 12-round main event at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens.

Sheeraz’s impressive victory violently, loudly announced his arrival in a stacked 168-pound division. Berlanga’s lone loss before Saturday night was his 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat to Alvarez last September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Sheeraz, 26, made his super middleweight debut 4½ months after struggling with WBC middleweight champ Carlos Adames in Sheeraz’s first title fight. The Dominican Republic’s Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs) seemed to beat Sheeraz, but their 12-round, 160-pound championship match officially resulted in a split draw February 22 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Sheeraz realized after that performance that he had to move up to the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds if he were to reach his potential. He also hired former middleweight champ Andy Lee as his trainer.

Those two decisions couldn’t have looked like a smarter move based on the way he beat Berlanga.

Sheeraz slipped several of Berlanga’s punches in the fourth round until Berlanga landed a left hook about 1:10 into that round. Sheeraz came back to land a right hand a little later in that round.

His clean left hook, however, knocked Berlanga flat on his back, under the bottom rope, with 41 seconds on the clock in the fourth round. A disoriented Berlanga beat Fields’ count, but was obviously hurt.

Sheeraz attacked him as soon as the action resumed and dropped him again, this time with a left-right combination, with 16 seconds remaining in the fourth round.

The bell saved Berlanga from getting knocked out in the fourth round, but he didn’t last long in the fifth round.

A right-left combination by Sheeraz rocked Berlanga again and made him use his right glove to keep from going down, which counted as a knockdown as Fields moved between them to stop their “Ring III” pay-per-view fight.

The official time of the stoppage was 17 seconds of the fifth round.

The third round lacked action until Sheeraz and Berlanga began exchanging with under 40 seconds to go in it.

Berlanga worked off his jab and tried to avoid Sheeraz’s right hand for much of the second round. Sheeraz showed patience as he looked for openings in Berlanga’s defense.

Sheeraz caught Berlanga with a left hook in an exchange with just under a minute to go in the first round. About 10 seconds later, Berlanga landed a right hand that moved Sheeraz backward, into the ropes.